Upload Date: March 28, 2005 (revised chapter)
Harry Mason sat in a chair, lost in thought. From his fingers dangled something that he hoped would someday save his daughter…if the whole suspected thing were true. The pendant was a small glass ball, in which a tiny red object rested. The pendant hung from a fine gold chain. It was a strange thing, this pendant was. The red object was not a jewel, as it would have seemed to any other person, but a most important substance in disguise.
The red object was a compressed form of the substance Aglaophotis. Aglaophotis was the magical substance that was believed to rid people of demonic possession. Harry had recovered an amount of the rare substance and had it made into a pill like jewel…the only thing that would save Heather, if she really was the reincarnation of Alessa, and that Sammael would be buried inside her womb.
Harry sighed wearily. It would be his only hope for his daughter.
A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts. Harry turned to see his young six-year-old daughter standing in the doorway. He smiled.
"Daddy?" Heather said curiously, her short blonde hair bouncing as she darted to where her father was sitting. "You wanted to see me?"
"Ahh…Heather. Yes I did, in fact…" Harry said, looking down at the young girl who had settled down in front of him, her elbows resting on his knees.
Heather looked on in impatient curiosity.
"I wanted to give you something." Harry held the pendant out to her, "Happy Birthday."
Heather looked at it for a moment, before taking it gingerly. She thought she could feel a sick feeling stir up inside her, but it went away before she could even question what she felt.
"What is it?" Heather said, looking through the ball's glass and looking at the red object nestled inside.
"It is a good luck charm. I want you to take very good care of it…it is very important to me. But I thought it was time for you to have it for yourself. Keep it close to you at all times, and never take it off." Harry said kindly, cupping his hands under his own daughter's small ones. She would eventually find out the true use of it…when she would need it the most.
Heather looked up and smiled at her father. Harry gently took the pendant out of her hands and unclasped it. "Let's see how it looks on you."
Heather turned around so that he could fasten it on. The strange, sick feeling returned, taking longer to dissipate this time. She looked down at it and couldn't help but feel confused, sick, and safe at the same time.
The image faded, and Heather unclenched her eyes. That was a memory. This was reality. The pain in her stomach was slowly worsening, and she bent down on her knees even more, clutching at her stomach and resisting the urge to pass out.
Heather suddenly knew what to do.
All the while, Claudia loomed above her, anticipating the moment that Sammael would enter the world.
Taking a deep breath, Heather fought through the pain to unclasp her necklace. Weakly, she opened the small glass ball and shook the pill out of it and into her hand. Without giving it another thought, she tipped her head back and dropped the pill down into her mouth.
Claudia looked oddly at the foolish girl. Suddenly, Heather bent double yet again, and her body seemed to crawl with dark red tendrils.
Heather hoped she had done the right thing as more waves of pain washed over her.
Author's Note (Mar. 28, 2005):
How did you guys like that? I kind of revised it a little bit. Hope I didn't get my facts mixed up since I could only guess about when Harry gave the pendant to Heather. (can't really remember exactly about the whole Claudia/Heather thing since I hated that level…) Reviews are very much appreciated…